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Opinion: The Northern Pass project is important to New England

Author of the article:

News Desk

Publishing date:

August 7, 2014 • 3 minute read

Continuing the goodwill of long-standing energy trade between Canada and the United States, the Northern Pass partnership between Hydro-Québec and New England-based Northeast Utilities will bring 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy from Quebec to New Hampshire and New England at a time of significant energy market challenges.

A recent opinion piece that ran in The Gazette, however, repeated many inaccuracies that have attempted to sidetrack the debate over the critical need for the Northern Pass project (“Northern Pass is a bad proposal,” July 21). The energy crisis facing New Hampshire and New England is historic and real. To address this situation responsibly, consideration of potential solutions, including projects like Northern Pass, which calls for construction of a transmission line from the Quebec border to southern New Hampshire, must rely on facts.

A key issue in the debate over Northern Pass is whether it is “needed.” While some critics insist New Hampshire and New England do not need new sources of power, that view is not the prevailing opinion of industry experts, all six New England governors, and ISO-New England, the region’s independent grid operator.

In an unprecedented move, the governors have formally recognized the need, and signed an agreement to enable the construction of more electric and gas transmission in the region. The fact is that existing energy supplies are strained, and by 2020, the region could lose up to 8,300 megawatts of generation due to power-plant retirements.

That represents more than 25 per cent of the electricity supply that New England counts on to power its homes and businesses. New England’s leaders recognize that the time to act is now.

Increasing deliveries of Quebec hydro power to New England will play an important role in helping the region meet both its energy challenges and carbon-reduction goals. Hydro-Québec has been selling electricity to New England since the 1980s, and it is a reliable energy provider and valued partner to the region’s energy market.

Since Northern Pass was first announced, the project has modified its planned route to incorporate some underground construction, lower structure designs, and use natural terrain to minimize potential visual impacts. The project proposes to locate almost 80 per cent of the line along existing transmission corridors, where a transmission line already exists. The remaining portion of the line would be located on land the project has purchased, or leased, by negotiating with willing landowners.

Contrary to critics, Northern Pass has already secured a viable route — and does not need eminent domain authority (authorization to expropriate).

Importantly, Northern Pass has also received key approvals from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and ISO-New England, and is in the midst of additional federal permitting.

Environmental and technical data are being collected and analyzed by the U.S. Department of Energy as it prepares to release a draft Environmental Impact Statement by the end of this year.

The next step for the project will be to submit an application to the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee.

It is during this public permitting process that Northern Pass will be evaluated on its merits in the state by a panel of diverse interests.

Every aspect of the project will be vetted, including environmental and visual impacts, and benefits such as increased local tax revenue and energy savings.

In the midst of all this, we continue our outreach to towns and landowners along the route, as well as other key stakeholders, with the goal of understanding how the project can best address the questions and concerns they may have.

Support for Northern Pass in New Hampshire is growing. Public surveys consistently show more support than opposition, and indicate that the more people learn about the project, the more they support it. New Hampshire’s residents want sensible solutions to high energy prices and dwindling energy sources in the region.

With an issue as critical as stabilizing New England’s energy supply to keep its economy strong, we ask that the public seek the facts about Northern Pass and objectively weigh the pros and cons of this critical clean energy project.